Word of the Day

: May 1, 2012

abstruse

adjective ub-STROOSS

What It Means

: difficult to comprehend

abstruse in Context

The author's new book is not as abstruse as his previous works and is likely to attract a much larger readership.

"It was the kind of spectacle that policy wonks savor - three days of complex and abstruse arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court…." - From an article by Andrew B. Wilson in the Southeast Missourian, April 4, 2012

Did You Know?

Look closely at the following Latin verbs, all of which are derived from the verb "trudere" ("to push"): "extrudere," "intrudere," "obtrudere," "protrudere." Each of these Latin verbs has an English descendant whose meaning involves pushing or thrusting. Another "trudere" offspring, "abstrudere", meaning "to push away" or "to conceal," gave English "abstrude," meaning "to thrust away." But that verb didn't make it past the 17th century. The "abstrudere" descendant that did survive is "abstruse," an adjective that recalls the meaning of its Latin parent "abstrusus," meaning "concealed."